My article published–doing research for historical fiction

When I got my newsletter from The Georgia Writers’ Association last spring, I noticed that their upcoming conference dealt with historical fiction. Since my historical novels feature the Georgia Battalion’s role in the Texas Revolution, I emailed Dr. Margaret Walters at Kennesaw State University (the executive director of GWA) saying I’d be happy to donate some copies of How Far Tomorrow to be included in their book offerings. She was quite happy about my offer and also wondered if I’d be willing to submit an article on what I learned about doing historical research. I enjoyed writing the article and, because several months had passed since hearing from GWA, I was surprised by Dr. Walters’ notification that my article is indeed included in the September issue of the Georgia Writers’ Authority. (This will make quite a nice drum roll for the official debut of Those Bones at Goliad!)

Author

Kirkus Review is in for Those Bones at Goliad

Judith Austin Mills "keeps the plot moving, allowing the stories of ordinary Texans to outweigh the political rivalries and diplomatic rifts that fill the history books."
Kirkus sums up my sequel as "a sweeping tale of 19-century Texas." The new book is due out in September!

Cover design for Those Bones at Goliad

Sequel to How Far Tomorrow due out late summer

Wonderful website, friends of the Geotgia Battalion

Spend some time at...georgiabattalion.com to see what's been discovered about another battalion survivor. Read about James Peter Trezevant. I'm now friends with two of the independence volunteer's descendants! Their Georgia Battalion Project lives on.

Plain View Press, Susan Bright’s Legacy

As Plain View Press says, ONWARD…

The original publisher of Plain View used to always close her message with "Onward." And sInce the first 2013 calendar page is about to turn, I'd better move beyond last fall and winter in my reporting. I just got the chance to thank Susan Post again--while volunteering a bit with her annual book store inventory--for hosting an event last January in remembrance of publisher Susan Bright. I hope the Austin icon would have been proud of How Far Tomorrow and of my progress with its sequel/companion To the Bones of La Bahia.

Association of Writers and Publishers: Feb.29-Mar.3: Chicago

This well-known conference is in Chicago this year, and I'm so happy that Plain View Press publisher Pam Knight and staff-member Sherry Pilisko were able to attend. The press has a nice one-page spread in the program(p.227), and How Far Tomorrow is among the featured covers. Copies of my novel were available to reviewers at the PVP table.

The Georgia Post(Thursday, April 5) mentions How Far Tomorrow

This newspaper covers Crawford County, Georgia, where the tiny town of Knoxville saw the Georgia Battalion march through in November, 1835, on its way to help settlers struggle against oppression in Texas. At the inn in Knoxville, Joanna Troutman, gave her handmade lone-star banner to William Ward to carry into battle.
In this article my aunt, Mary Hunt Bartlett, is pictured with Sydney Goodrich, whose ancestor John T Spillers was among the very few survivors of Goliad.
Thanks to my Aunt Mary for delivering copies of How Far Tomorrow to the Crawford library and newspaper. Thanks to all the residents of Crawford County for keeping the memory of the Georgia Battalion alive. A special note of thanks to Georgia author and Georgia Post columnist Billy Powell for his steady articles about Knoxville's local hero.

An event at BookWoman, January 15 in Austin, Texas, 4:00-6:00

*** On January, 2012, at BookWoman, Ute Carson and I co-hosted and read samplings from our own work as well as the books of others Plain View Press authors.